Review: It Happened One Christmas

2023 gifted us with not one but two novels from Chantel Guertin, one of my favourite authors. Not only that, but I’m always happy when a favourite author writes a holiday novel! So, I was really looking forward to It Happened One Christmas, which was published in October. Life being Life, I just finally read it over the weekend and, while I wasn’t blown away, I was still infused with so much holiday cheer by the end of the story.

Here’s the book’s description:

Will magic happen under the mistletoe?
All year long, Zoey Andrews lives and breathes Christmas--not just because she loves everything about the festive season, but because, as the director of countless Christmas movies, she's perpetually (and happily) surrounded by 24/7 holiday cheer. And this year Christmas has come early: After years of making other people's movies, Zoey finally has the chance to make her own. There's just one thing standing in her way of that: Benoît Deschamps, the sexy, bearded, grouchy and utterly frustrating, plaid shacket-wearing tree-farm-owner-slash-mayor who refuses to grant Zoey the permit to film in Chelsea, the cozy and snowy Quebec hamlet at the center of her screenplay.
With just four days left before Christmas, Zoey must change Ben's mind, but not before an unscripted ice storm leaves them stranded in the middle of nowhere, with nothing--no food, no phone, no electricity--except . . . each other.
Will Ben's chilly resolve shatter Zoey's Christmas movie wish? Or will Zoey be able to melt through his stubbornness--and maybe even his heart?

Let’s start with what didn’t warm my holiday loving heart. I think I am completely over stories about out of town folks coming into a small town, wanting to change something or wanting to get something out of the town. Now, I know Zoey knew what she was doing when it comes to scouting and was a trustworthy person. I know she would fairly compensate the town. But I just think I’m tired of the same old story and it was hard to set that tired trope aside and focus on the uniqueness to Guertin’s story.

I mentioned above how Zoey was trustworthy so points to Guertin for creating a heroine that, while frustrating at times, was someone I was rooting for. I did like her. I questioned her choices in fashion and relationships and insistence on nostalgia from one single vacation when she was a kid, but I really did want a Happily Ever After for her.

Now, what about the swoons? I have complicated feelings about the romance even though I was wholeheartedly into Zoey and Ben getting together by the end of the novel. I loved their initial meet cute. Wasn’t so much a fan of their interactions about the film permit. But once they were thrown together during la tempête de verglas? Oh, yes. I mean, I wasn’t happy Zoey was out in the ice storm and was kinda sorta the reason she and Ben stayed on the road. But Guertin made it so clear that they were a team and they worked so well. There was sexual chemistry, sure, but they were building the framework for a good relationship. I dig it.

Did you catch the French up there? The novel is set in small town Quebec and I very much enjoyed reading about some of the Quebecois traditions and trying to figure out what Ben and the other townsfolk were saying en français before they translated for Zoey. I don’t live in Quebec but some of the things mentioned were very deeply Canadian, no matter what province you live in. I loved it.

It Happened One Christmas may not have been a huge winner for me but if you want a festive read, Chantel Guertin’s latest novel is one to check out. Despite the ice storm in the storyline, you’ll feel the warm, holiday spirit by the time you’re done.

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher, Doubleday Canada (Penguin Random House Canada) in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*